In a prior art process waste water is subjected to a pretreatment, e.g. a mechanical or biological pretreatment, so as to remove solid high molecular compounds from the waste water. Subsequently, the pretreated waste water is passed through a bed of ion exchanger materials to remove dissolved organic compounds, salts, toxic compounds, heavy metals etc. therefrom.
Among the ion exchanger materials which have been used for said purpose are anion exchanger materials based on polystyrene, clinoptinolit and cellulose ion exchangers.
Polystyrene ion exchangers are suitable for the removal of phosphate ions and also to some extent toxic compounds and heavy metals in the form of anions, such as chromate ions.
However, only the phosphate ions are removed to a satisfactory degree, viz. of the order of 90% or above.
Clinoptinolit is capable of removing ammonium ions, but has substantially no effect on the remaining contaminating substances. Cellulose ion exchangers are capable of removing proteins but remove substantially no other compounds or ions.
British Patent Specification No. 674.430 discloses a process for the removal of ammonia from water in which water is passed through a bed of a base-exchange material which has taken up manganese ions and then been subjected to an oxidizing treatment to convert the manganese into oxides.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,277 discloses a method of removing dissolved iron from water containing the same by passing the water through activated carbon particles impregnated with manganese dioxide which has been formed in situ.
The object of the present invention is to provide an ion exchanger material capable of removing both ammonia, phosphate ions and dissolved high molecular proteins from waste water containing the same.
Another object of the invention is to provide an ion exchanger material which can be eluated and regenerated in one step.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of treating waste water in one step to remove both ammonia, phosphate ions and dissolved high molecular proteins.